


Their Wish

by Marenorchid



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-12-23 17:35:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 10,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11994657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marenorchid/pseuds/Marenorchid
Summary: After awakening from their dream of overwhelming light and grand betrayal, Ghost tasked themself with rebuilding, and with their siblings at their side, the couldn't imagine not being able to fix what light had left behind. But not everyone would be strong enough to choose between escapism and the courage to face the future.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My beta reader is busy so this is kinda uuuhh

       Darkness around them, smothering and choking, light forgotten, light consumed. Ghost felt a presence screaming and desperate within the endless black of that empty space. Something alive with them. They looked about and before them saw her, how beautiful her light, how terrifying: radiant, no, the Radiance. The kingdom’s shining, intelligent, resolute poltergeist. They tried to reach out their hand to her but found that they too were fading fast. Before they dissipated, they felt a jolt and their sight faded into light instead of dark. Falling, the sensation of falling and then a jolt that awoke them abruptly.  
       They opened their eyes to a world they knew had changed somehow, the air clearer, lighter. Grasping at their chest, they tried to sooth the reeling nausea of being so close to light. Heaving breath, heavy limbs, they felt like they had weight on their chest, unrelentingly heavy. With great effort, Ghost brought itself upright and looked around the room, lit dimly with a few scattered lanterns. The Temple of the Black Egg, darker than they remembered, the infection having been consumed by the abyss along with the Radiance. The abyss, them, how were they still alive? They didn’t want to think about it. But they were oddly thankful for it.  
       From where they sat, they could see the shattered remnants of the Dream Nail, a powerful charm that now lay broken irreparably on the ground, despite that, they reached out and grabbed its fragments, pulling them close. The hilt was smashed and the glass that made up its body was cracked but they felt some comfort in the shards. The weight of their nail on their back reminded them further that they were still alive, a weight they were grateful for.  
       They caught a glimpse of red from the corner of their vision and turned their head swiftly in relief. Then came the rush of fear. Slumped on the ground next to her was their sibling, mask cracked, body practically shattered from the infection. If nothing was done, the Hollow Knight would die. They reached for the charm in their cloak by habit, the Void Heart, as if to make sure it was real- as if to remind themself of what the Knight had done in the past. Regardless, they stepped forward to stand at Hornet’s side, an old and familiar ache forming in their hollow chest. After all that, they wondered why they still wanted to meet them.  
       “It is dying… You carry the unified void within you, then there is something that can be done to help,” Hornet turned to face Ghost, “Will you grant it mercy? Or perhaps a second chance?”  
       Within them, Ghost could hear the Void crying out in pain, empathy for its lost child, a lost child who turned their back on their homeland in favor of light. And in the end, although unwilling, paid a great price for grand betrayal. If it held a piece of them, of Root, of Wyrm, of Void, then their soul could reach it. Ghost wouldn’t let it escape the consequence of the Wyrm’s actions so easily as by the end of a nail. They extended their small hand to it and tendrils of void wrapped gently around the shattering Vessel, fragments of souls danced in the air as its wounds mended, although the crack in their mask was well beyond repair.  
       “Is it in pity… that you would extend hope to it- cursed as it is.”  
       They turned to her and wished they could speak. Had it not been for their lack of speech they would have given her quite the retort. Not for pity, but an act of forgiveness, forced retribution. They would help pay for what the King had done by bearing the burden of the future in his stead.  
       Their tendrils dissolved into dark nothingness and the soul they had extended faded, but still the Knight lay on the ground unmoving. Injured but alive. Ghost reached to it and gently shook its shoulder as they readied their nail in case it tried to lash out. They looked at the gashes left on its body, unable to be healed, permanent scars. What would become constant reminders of their father’s sins. With morbid curiosity, they ran their hand over the scar that ran down it’s chest, flowing from a crater at its heart on the side of the mangled nub of where its right arm used to be.  
       They realized that as pathetic as it was, that was the first time they had ever touched their sibling outside of combat. It was their turn to look down in pity and they recoiled at the thought, withdrawing their hand into their cloak. Hornet looked on at them, not saying a word. Simply being there. Three siblings with nothing left in the world but each other and the crushing weight of a future that had to be rebuilt from ruin. A kingdom that had to be rebuilt upon the corpses of countless lost with the help of countless still hopeless after such devastation.  
       The Hollow Knight stirred from its sleep and looked up at its two small siblings, sitting up, it stared at them for a few moments with an unreadable expression. With great effort, it stood to full, terrifying height, towering over them. And then, recoiling in fear, it ran straight for the entrance of the temple and disappeared into the dark hallway beyond.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the trail of their sibling, Hornet and Ghost find themselves back in Dirtmouth, faced with a change of plans and a new, uncertain future.

       Hornet and Ghost searched the crossroads for it, passing countless dying husks left behind in the wake of the plague's end. Yet they found no clue as the where the Hollow Knight had run off to. They figured it couldn’t have gone far, for it was far too tall for most doorways in Hallownest. Between the time it was sealed and the present, the world had grown too small for its likes. No broken archways, no shattered doors, no trace of them.  
       Defeated, the pair decided to head back to Dirtmouth to see if anyone in town had seen them by chance.  
       “How could I have let them get away, I was able to restrain them-! I could have easily-”  
       She was stopped by Ghost who had reached up and grabbed her shoulder firmly, they didn’t want to talk about it. Despite everything that had happened to them in their journey, they couldn’t recall a time they had been more worried. So many dangers left in the world that their sibling wouldn’t know about and they were alone and about somewhere lost.  
       Hornet wasn’t used to comforting others, she never cared for casual conversation or deep relationships. She didn’t need other bugs to survive. But now she felt troubled that she couldn’t offer a single thing to make them feel better. She tried to change the subject to distract them for a bit. Even though she knew that what she was about to tell them would only burden their thoughts with other matters.  
       “So… You wear the brand of a king and unified the void, an impressive feat on its own…” She continued after getting no complaint from her sibling, “But are you prepared to take the mantle that the mark brings? If so, as your sister, I will stand by your side.”  
       Ghost stopped dead in their tracks. The future felt heavier than they thought it would be when all three of them were together. Without even realizing it, they nodded. They would do anything to make sure the future would never again suffer as it had before. No more stasis, just life. In honour of those who died to secure that hopeful reality. For he who had watched, for she who taught, for the mother who sacrificed herself, and for all those who fell because of the pride of two lights.  
       They grabbed Hornet’s hand, and walked faster to the fading town, they would find their sibling, they had to. A knight who knew so much about the past would be a valuable asset for the future. And beyond that they wanted to make amends with their regret, not bury it, not run away from it as their father had.  
       With Ghost’s knowledge from their journey, they quickly found their way to the edge of the lonely village, the winds howling lonely over the dried grass, street lanterns lighting the dull path home. Before they even got to the square they saw a familiar set of horns, tall, towering.  
       They heard a familiar voice as well: Elderbug. He was seated comfortably on the bench talking to the large Knight. The Knight was looking at him childishly and aware as to what he was saying but it didn’t seem like they were understanding the information he gave. Even seated on the bench, they were an intimidating figure. They were listening so intently, their long body curved over the old bug. As they approached the square, Hornet held her hand out to stop them. With a look of worry, she pulled them aside, out of earshot and sight of the two bugs sitting in the center of town.  
       “Something is wrong, Little Ghost… Do you by chance still have that charm, the one to access a mind? It would seem we still have use for it.”  
       Ghost pulled out the remnants of it, shattered and pitiful. They could feel their insides churning with dread. With no moths left in the kingdom, if they needed the charm as Hornet suspected, they were at a loss.  
       Grabbing Hornet’s hand, they pulled her into the square, just close enough so that their sibling could see them. As they approached, the larger Vessel tensed up and stared at them.  
       “Knight, why have you run away from us?” Hornet stood poised, “Do you not recognize your sibling?”  
       Hornet gestured to Ghost who shuffled in front of her sheepishly and threw their nail to the side to indicate they meant no harm.  
       The Knight only looked at them in fear and slightly shifted themself to get behind Elderbug as the two approached. Although that didn’t do much to shield their form from the their two agitated siblings.  
       “Oh! Do you know this bug?” Elderbug asked enthusiastically, “They’re a great listener. Although a bit big for this bench.”  
       “We do,” Hornet was still cautiously observing the larger of the pair, “Although I doubt they know us.”  
       Hornet turned aside to Ghost and urged them forward.  
       “If you can communicate with them as unified void, then do it now.”  
       Ghost hadn’t really talked before with any of their estranged relatives, what little they had didn’t care for much beyond wandering or wanting them dead. But they felt they had to try, this was more important than doubt.  
                             _Do they recognize me? They have to, they must! That time in the Abyss! They saw me.The time they left?_  
       Their tall sibling didn’t budge, didn’t compute, didn’t even look in Ghost’s direction. Without Elderbug’s chatter to distract it, it simply looked around as if shocked and in awe at the vast stretching emptiness of open sky. Darkness that stretched from its view into seemingly endless space, diverting its blank mind. From nowhere in its torn in two mental environment could it remember nor comprehend such a vast expansive horizon and it made them almost giddy in a way they could not verbalize.  
       From that crack that light had left its mask, a sound like laughter resounded in a voice that was familiar to Ghost, a voice like their mother’s but slightly deeper and yet light, carefree without the mar of ages spent in apprehension, a voice unworn by that disquiet age of light. It made Hornet tense in analytic fascination. It made Ghost want to fall back into the abyss, they had seen everything, and they wanted to leave. No vessel should have ever had a voice and yet there they were, given expression by the trauma that had led them to that point. A shattering that broke even the King’s decree.  
       It was as if they had completely blocked everything out, choosing instead to lock their memory away and forget about unity, about themself. To them, thought Ghost, it must have been safer than coping with what happened. They gripped the broken Dream Nail with all their strength.  
               _Please don’t be gone. Not after I hoped for you all this time. Not with all work we must do. Not after what you did._  
       They wondered if it could have been something the Radiance did, or maybe just from being sealed so long. Although forgetfulness as escapism was something they knew full well.  
       For some reason, Ghost felt as if they’ve been where their sibling was. Easier to forget upon waking- to wander the world disillusioned. Or maybe it wasn’t by choice. Coming to terms with one’s regrets required strength beyond what most could stomach. And for a creature completely consumed by that regret and by the regret of its father- redemption of mind would be impossible.  
       And Ghost’s small hands gripped that broken charm as if it was the only thing left in the entire world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess I'll die


	3. Chapter 3

       Despite not wanting to leave their sibling, Ghost knew they would have to go to the capital to rebuild. With their brand, whoever survived would have to listen to them, with their nail, those who sought to destroy others for selfish gain, seeing only a grave to rob would be forced to obey. Despite their obligation as monarch to Hallownest, they couldn’t leave their sibling alone.  
       Hornet had since sewn the Hollow Knight a new robe, their old one too dirtied and torn to be used further. With their shawl, they greatly resembled their sister, although lacking her prowess. The years in the temple had taken a toll on them, they no longer had the strength of a knight, their limbs now weak and thin.  
       Soon, the kingdom would start to grow, new and unfamiliar, or even dangerous bugs would start to flow in. Ghost wondered how long it would take the corpse of the once great kingdom to be picked clean by scavengers. A thought they couldn’t bear. Not when everyone sacrificed so much to keep it standing. Not with so much hope.  
       Ghost stood at the mouth of the simple well that led to the vast and eternal kingdom of Hallownest, ready to plunge into the depths and accept their role as king. They would rebuild their crumbling world, even if they had to do it alone.  
       Hornet was ready to follow the new monarch into a life of endless turmoil, she had known nothing but fighting her whole life. And she was willing to accept her fate as a knight eternally bound to the king. Rebuilding would not be easy and Ghost suspected they would not be able to return for quite some time. With only one of the original Five Knights left, establishing order would be a struggle. But Hornet deserved better than that and they knew it. She had served long enough. She wouldn’t approve of it but Ghost knew it had to be done to keep their only siblings safe.  
       No grand plan for all three of them, just life for the two. It would be Ghost who carried the king’s burden for they were the only one to claim his brand. The mantle was forced upon the two, Ghost burned themself willingly and was prepared to shoulder the burden. It wasn’t fair to drag the other two into the ruins with them.  
       Every time they thought of their towering sibling, they couldn’t help but feel awe and even reverence, even if it was marred by discontent. Like a younger sibling looking up to an older brother. Although fallen from grace and abandoned with no memories, Ghost couldn’t help but feel affection towards the sibling they wanted to resent. Part of their regret, most of it, now real to them as the nail on their back.  
       As Hornet prepared to follow them, they stuck out their small arm and blocked her. To their surprise, she only gave them a short look of shock, and then, recognizing why, she looked at them conflicted. A quiet life, quieter than she had ever known, Ghost wondered how she’d fare without being able to do her dramatics or even fight. They couldn’t image her being too bad off.  
       “Little Ghost, would you bear the future alone?” Hornet looked deep in thought again, “I have faith in your ability, but that is a charge I cannot imagine you holding.”  
       In return they gave her a stern look, they couldn’t talk but they wanted her to understand. The were giving her a order. An oath to a king. To accept that order would be to guard what was precious to a monarch, a role that would have been cherished by any knight. But not Hornet, she was tired of guarding, she wanted to rebuild. And Ghost knew that this was her chance to do that. To rebuild her life peacefully, her oath left in the past along with what she had done to serve the crown.  
       Slowly, hesitantly, she nodded her head. And with the oath made, she bowed to them begrudgingly, and watched as they disappeared into the cavern below without even a second glance.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Left in the fading town to watch over the Hollow Knight's recovery, Hornet decides to take the knight to familiar place in order to help them stir their memory.

       Hornet looked at their tall sibling from the edge of the square, the robes that she had sewn for them shifted in the wind and they pulled the shawl that was around their shoulders tighter to their body with a shiver. They carried a small satchel on their waist tied with a strip of cloth across their chest. So much heat they had known for centuries, the only thing they knew besides whatever the Radiance had said to them while imprisoned at their heart, screaming out hatefully from their dreams. The little Weaver wondered what it must have felt like to be without such a fiery burden. How cold they must have felt. How much happier they must have been.  
       She didn’t have a family before, she barely knew her mother and her father was as great a mystery as he’d been to the people. A unreachable and condescendingly distant light. She would never admit to finding comfort in having family so close.  
       Although Hornet knew that she and that Vessel had been the King’s tools, not his children, from the very start, from the moment of conception. And even before that. And they both played into his plans so easily, instead of having lives they chose duty willingly and committed themselves completely to their goals. So devoted to it that she took to the slaughter of those empty little wanderers in order to uphold it. An act of violence she once thought of as mercy.  
       If she was going to be a guardian again, Hornet wanted to again be proactive in her role. Crossing the square and grabbing their hand, she led them sternly to the well and ushered them down the newly build ladder. Instead, the Knight simply jumped down and landed lightly in the darkness below- their sister following.  
       Walking in the direction of the Black Egg Temple, she let herself be led by them as she often did. They were curious and intelligent, reminding her of Ghost when they first awoken, as the state of their mind was similar to Ghost’s when it first came back to the kingdom. A creature with no memory and nothing to gain from returning to that world. Would it in time recover it’s thoughts? Could it? She could scarcely comprehend why it would want to. Nothing but pain could come from it but it was a necessary tribulation.  
       As they walked before the great temple, she grabbed her sibling’s hand and stopped them. Heading into the dark temple, she beckoned them to follow, she wanted them to see something, to take something. If they would follow, she would help them.  
       “There is someone who wants to see you,” Hornet said solemnly, “for ages they had slept in the darkness- and it was through great misery and toil that they brought you back.”  
       She let go of the hand she had held and the Hollow Knight followed her as they walked through the darkness of the temple. Although it had lost the power to drain her of life, she felt unnerved by the empty gloom. It was an odd thing to be back to such a place, a place were great sin was committed. Even more tragic with the Knight losing all recollection of their former prison. Could it return to that place? Even knowing its shameful betrayal?  
       “Do you remember why they want to see you, why they waited so long, why they have done so much?”  
       “No… ?”  
       “I cannot show you where they are,” Hornet and the Knight entered into the large and now empty room of the grand temple, “until you yourself remember.”  
       “How?” they pulled their shawl tighter to their body, irresolute and anxious.  
       Hornet moved silently to the center of the room where the only thing that remained was broken chains and a large nail that was struck into the ground. She gestured for them to come to her and laid her hand on the broken blade. Its surface was frigid, she suspected it was made of Pale ore alloy- a fitting blade for any honored knight.  
       “Take this fractured nail,” she continued, “and carry it as your reminder until you can take back what was forgotten. Then you will surely be able to find that person.”  
       Without saying anything, they took their place at her side, withdrawing the nail from the stone that had become its sheath. It was light and cold, and felt so familiar and perfect in their grip. As if it was made for them, a part of their body as inseparable as an arm or leg. Holding it close, its edges too blunt to cut, they walked to the door without saying anything. Tying the blade to their back with the cloth on their satchel, they turned behind them and held out their hand gently to their sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting these chapters out fast to Avoid The Burnout


	5. Chapter 5

      The Hollow Knight looked up at the sky, so empty and so full of endless dark, it reminded them of something beloved and lost, it was a great comfort to be under such a thing. That girl who was always at their side stood with a unreadable yet intense look, even so they felt like they wanted to be her friend- like she was somehow incomprehensibly important to them or someone else they knew. And so whenever they could their hand was always in hers.  
      A nimble little thing to them, familiar in mind to someone they knew, familiar in body to someone they felt like they knew. She told them that her name was Hornet, and that she was a knight to a king- how important. She certainly had the air of a knight: dramatic, pragmatic, and almost cold- from what they thought they knew of knights. They weren’t quite sure how they thought those things, where their opinions on knights came from. Perhaps they had seen a few.  
      Hornet stood distracted, as if waiting for someone, then gestured for them to stay behind as she left in the direction of the well. They decided to head home for a while, it seemed like she would be gone for quite some time- although she did everything like it was urgent and of utmost import. They knew she would find them if she needed to.  
      Although they had the biggest house in the town, they still had to duck to get in and it still felt cramped- although they never minded the small living space, they felt like they could even live with less if they had to. They stared out the window as they always did when there was nothing to do beneath the well or on the borders of the village. Many people passed through the town but very few ever stayed. And by chance, they saw that girl and a bug with a frame most intriguing and familiar.  
      The outsider was tall, almost as tall as them, with a fiercely curved crown of two horns that were connected to their mask at a double-ridged base- how familiar. They bore the special regality of a king. They didn’t know how they knew such things of monarchs. The Knight leaned closer to their window to get a better look, the outsider handed something to Hornet: a cloak with armored shoulders. A vestment that looked gravely familiar. It was the armor of a knight- armor they knew quite well.  
      The girl’s tall associate turned and looked at them, with a look so reserved and unreadable they felt taken aback. They then bowed to the girl and started walking towards the well. Without hesitation, the Knight sprang up and ran out of their door, almost hitting their horns on the way out, chasing that figure into the melancholy gloom. They had to see them- they didn’t know why but they wanted them. That shadow was something more important to them than anything.  
      They dropped their shawl as they wove past houses in pursuit but they didn’t care, they had to find that person. They paused and looked around wondering if they had already left, if they had missed their chance. They hadn’t even really noticed their missing shawl until they moved to pull it closer to themself to find its familiar weight was gone. Looking around panicked, they started to feel tears bubble at the corner of their eyes- a sensation they were unfamiliar with and yet felt natural doing. They couldn’t see much in the shadows of the town and although they knew where they were, they felt lost.  
      They heard the noise of rustling fabric somewhere in the darkness and whipped around quickly. The bug that they had chased was standing near them, their shawl in its hands as they dusted it off carefully. They could no longer remember what was so important about them, their face was obscured by the dusk. They couldn’t see their features beyond their horns and even those were dispelled in the gloom. There was something sorrowful in the way they hung their head, and something incredibly loving in the way they conducted each careful movement.  
      Stepping even closer, they held out the shawl with both hands and quickly wrapped it around the taller bug’s shoulders with a gentleness they had never felt before. A touch they knew they should have found familiar. They couldn’t move, just stand there in shock and even awe at the boldness of the gesture. The smaller figure stood for a moment just staring at them, then with coldness in their step turned and walked away. They watched as that fleeting ghost of a king disappeared from their sight.  
      Standing there transfixed, they felt those tears that had bubbled from that sad feeling of being lost pool and then overflow.


	6. Chapter 6

      Standing outside of the small town, the Knight grabbed their sister’s arm and led her to follow them. It held her hand so gently in its large palm, acutely aware of itself and cautiously affectionate. She often liked to ask them questions when they walked together, there wasn’t much to do other than that and watching the bugs who came from outside the kingdom to descend into the well. There were so many now, Hornet wondered how Ghost was doing, down in the slowly beating heart of the world. She hoped they were upholding their job as king. She hoped that they were happy. The Hollow Knight’s voice brought her back to reality, in its little sighs and sounds. As if it was still testing its voice.  
      Ghost had only stopped by once before, to give her the armor that she now wore, it was nice to at least feel like a knight again. It greatly resembled the cloak that the Hollow Knight had worn before its imprisonment, but they didn’t seem to mind. A distant memory that they had forgotten- all for the sake staying safe.  
      There was so much they knew, in their brief childhood, what wonders they must have been witness to. At the forefront of battles untold and forgotten, the days spent training with the King’s honored knights. They had forgotten a childhood that was worth lifetimes. There was so much Hornet wanted to know, so much she had to say. But what came to the forefront above everything, was what they remembered of the people they had met in the past. They must have remembered something of Ghost, of the King, and maybe even of the Dreamers. She contemplated whether reminding them would give their memory a nudge.  
      Sitting still and talking made her feel uneasy, so she was glad that the Knight was similarly restless. She only did it to opponents, enemies. This was her sibling, as hard as that fact was to come to terms with. She never knew what it was like to have a sibling she could trust. It somehow made her happy, she couldn’t explain why. After years of destroying the Vessels, it was uncomfortable to feel so strongly towards one- to relate to one. When she was around it, she now felt her guard drop, she was at ease after so much time in a state of constant tension.  
      It took her a long time to warm up to Ghost, it had to prove itself worthy, had she changed? Hornet often worried that she did. Perhaps with the end of the plague and the rebuilding, she wanted something she couldn’t have before, the thought made her mind blur. She was a lot like them, she had often thought of that. She could never tell Ghost what she had felt, she didn’t like the idea of them knowing, she considered them too busy to be bothered with such things.  
      Her grip on their hand tightened and they looked down at her in response to her sudden change. She didn’t like how quickly it took to her, how easily it showed her compassion. Ghost was colder, she liked that, it was safer. The more she related to it and the more it tried to befriend her, the more she felt she had changed- and that scared her.  
      Keeping their pace until they slowly stopped, distracted by something, and collapsed to their knees, rummaging through the grass. Walking to their side, she grabbed their shoulder, and hugged them slightly. She had never had a sister but she imagined this is what it would feel like, an odd thought. It was pleasant and made her miss her mother- the only family she had known. She felt homesick but at the same time like she was at home.  
      “What is it, Knight?” Hornet looked at what was distracting them, “Why have you stopped here?”  
      It was pleasant, to forget about what was happening below them for a while and just be together, even if she didn’t understand what she felt for them. Her sibling, she repeated in her mind over and over, as if having family that was there and wasn’t going anywhere was too much of a luxury for her to even fathom. The frigid mask that she had built around herself was melting fast and she was scared but somehow content. Normally she welcomed change but now she, to her discontent, feared it.  
      Stirred by the grass, she looked upon the dim glow of a lumafly, illuminating the darkness in front of them. Looking at the large knight in wonder and feeling her heart flutter shyly, she kneeled next to them childishly and shook the grass. Two more floated out, little lights elucidating the heavy darkness and the vision of disparity that was her sibling- a shadow that stuck out against the darkness, separated from it.  
      This was the first time she let herself even try to reclaim what she had lost- such a heavy catharsis. She felt so stupid, but the warmth of being able to express such things made her joyful. She giggled lightly, and the larger knight looked at her in astonishment- she had realized how rare her laughter was, they had never heard it before. Moving closer to them, she pressed her mask to theirs affectionately.  
      Holding out her hand, she cupped two of the lumaflies near her and they hovered near her hand. The Knight looked fascinated at them. And as quickly as they appeared, the three little lights floated away into the darkness beyond the town. The two siblings sat together in the grass, happy to be together, happy to have shared that moment. Hornet couldn’t let her feeling reach them, even if she had never been happier. But when they laughed, she couldn’t help but laugh along, so unlike her laughter when she fought, for the first time since her childhood she laughed genuinely.


	7. Chapter 7

      Darkness, smothering and painful darkness, and then the shuffling of bones, clacking and cracking, and parting for the birth of a king. Ghost dragged themself from that place where they had incubated under the cadavers of countless other failures. Corpses, as far as they could see, piled like rubbish. The refuse of someone’s ambition. Crying in pain, they panicked as they walked through the all- encompassing sea of death, confused and alone. Colder and smaller than they had ever felt before, they searched for someone desperately with undeniable longing.  
      Looking up, they could see the bodies of things they loved falling and shattering with great force upon the ground in an immense upheaval of dust, joining their siblings in the mass grave. Horrified, they sifted through the bones, trying to find a way out, every part of them screaming silently. The horror of it all to a newly hatched creation, the unforgettable terror of sinking into death. Until they heard that voice, so peaceful and serene, removed from the chaos of the gloom- the voice of someone they loved and wanted to see.  
      “Dear Father! Is there no other way!” the voice of their sibling, of the Hollow Knight rang out in the emptiness and their lost heart felt calmed, transfixed on that fated goal, carrying them upward towards the memory of light. The memory of what someone wanted to say but couldn’t had drowned out all other voices and left them in shock at the wonderful and familiar sound.  
      “If this is how it must be, if you are going to commit such a thing, then I am evil too!” their voice echoed with resolve, “To protect the precious you who sleeps forever in the dark and for you, father.”  
      The voice sounded so tired, moribund, broken. Ascending upward towards that fated end, Ghost could feel that ache in their chest steadily grow like a hunger. This tragic place was not their end, this was all a dream, a dream that had quickly become the past and then disappeared. That voice chimed out again in a clear tone of regret and guilt- desperation fading into pitiful acceptance.  
      “You who thought so pragmatically that it blinded you, you sleepwalker through life.”  
      They jumped up towards that distant voice, their little wings carrying them from platform to platform in their dark ascent. Looking up towards light, towards the one they could never reach, even if it hurt like mad. The turn around in the tone of their voice was enough to jar Ghost as they climbed.  
      “Was it all a dream to you?”  
      The light was now shining through the darkness in their vision as they approached that ledge, their fateful fall and inevitable death. They could feel the spot where the King’s Brand should have been burning.  
      “You crushed everything in your wake without a second thought- eyes still closed in sightless sleep.”  
      The voice grew intensely angry for a few seconds and the air grew monumentally thicker as their sibling’s voice was expended finally with an angry cry- full of enervation. Ghost realized that this dream was not their own if another’s feeling had shaken it in such a way.  
      “It was your own possessiveness that destroyed that dream! You foolish light- just like the other yet both blind to your own hypocrisy.”  
      The could see their sibling from across the gap, light poured from that king as he stood looking down upon them. Ghost wanted to throw themself at him, to stop what had already taken place, to return to the peaceful sleep of unity with the one that he had taken. It wasn’t his right to steal away something so precious and lock it away into a dream of nothing but light. It was by his desecration that the abyss no longer slept. That the sea would churn unending in search of its lost children.  
      “There is no paradise for you to run to: the world is no longer your dream. Wake up and face the nightmare you have created for yourself.”  
      Ghost wondered now who they were talking to, the loving tone they had taken with the king had vanished into the rage of their tirade. What memories of past times did that Knight think of as they dreamed of home, Ghost asked the empty dreamspace between them. Perhaps they were addressing another light- another ghost that had haunted the sleeping, ruined kingdom.  
      “You have turned this reality into a most capricious farce. I am so tired.”  
      The metal platform was cold under their grip, they didn’t remember jumping but they did and unsurprisingly ended up just short as they did in the past and in the memory before. Their father walked out and their sibling would follow. Turning back to them, they heard their sibling’s voice again, that clear tone like their mother, the conviction of their father.  
      “Am I to simply let you be taken away from me? When I awake from this sleep, I will go and find you. I have seen you before… Although I do not know where. I will look for you there.”  
      As their sibling walked away from them and they fell to be embraced by the darkness, letting it wash over them like water, as their world faded to darkness they heard that comforting voice one final time. It seemed that it was fading unto itself as well, growing faint and tired- ebbing into the overwhelming light.  
      “Father… Betrayer… How can I forgive… I do not want to even remember!”  
      They felt the knaw of pain in the darkness that made up their body. And then with a start they awoke to the blue of their room in the City of Tears. Great nausea overtook them and they clutched their chest in sudden pain. Burning, ebbing and flowing like the tide of a great sea, dripping from the deep. A potent fear overtaking them and the sensation like being pulled in a thousand directions at once but not moving an inch.  
      Something was wrong again, the darkness that stirred in them felt suffocating and with a jolt, they fell to the ground, that familiar feeling of losing control was overpowering.  
      They couldn’t move or breath, just overwhelming pain and the blackness of ungovernable abyss. It was a similar feeling to when they got their shade cloak, overwhelming, blinding, but this time it was agonizing. The tendrils of void that they had controlled now threatened to furiously unfurl in their frenzied state. Clutching the Void Heart, they clawed at it desperately- they didn’t want to die, not here, not all alone, not when there was so much to do. With a silent sob, the stabbing pain abruptly ceased.  
Something was wrong, everything was wrong, their insides churned with nausea and they couldn’t move, couldn’t think beyond survival. They closed their eyes, sleep again overtaking them but they knew that when they awoke, they had to leave the claustrophobia of their tower and go somewhere- anywhere. Maybe even back home.


	8. Chapter 8

       Hornet awoke with a start to a knock on her door, tactful yet full of urgency, looking out of her window, she saw that familiar shadow, the Hollow Knight. They were slumped over, their one good arm pulling their shawl uncomfortably close to their body, their nail-lance in the crook of their arm, shaking form casting a deceptively sinister shadow over her door. They looked about ready to collapse, their knees buckling under them, thin as their form had become.  
       She put on her armor and slung her nail over her back, as she always did when she left her home. Opening the door, she looked up at them puzzled and reached for them with caution.  
       They talked before she could, an odd thing for them, they always prefered she talk first, they were so panicked that it was enough to make her steeled heart flutter. Their empty eyes flitted about as they moved their head to look around the village. Gasping and huffing, trying desperately to breath normally, grasping desperately at their chest- unable to even comprehend the horror of their panic.  
       “Them- I need to go to them. Below, and deeper still!” They looked in the direction of the well, “Falling, trapped! I need to help them... I need to find them! Because of what I-”  
       They cut themself off and ran to the well with Hornet in pursuit, quickly jumping down and darting forward as if they had never even hit the ground- so nimble as if they remembered something else about themself that was forgotten in their past misted with great and golden-shining agony. They ran with a conviction so furious, Hornet wondered where such a sudden resolve had come from. Two forms running into the dark unknown, chasing ghosts across an endless plane of dim and almost manic uncertainty.  
       They ran down that path where the stones were cold, this time chasing after the memory of a person who had so greatly changed, they’d be unrecognizable. Hornet knew now that they couldn’t run far, they were already losing speed and panting strenuously. That capricious and saintly knight who had sacrificed everything for others and for their entire life had never even obtained an ounce of love, fled into the caverns beyond, and clouded her thoughts as she bolted after them.  
       She knew what it was like, to feel at fault for such loss. It was because of them that their sibling fell into the abyss, it was because of her that her mother fell into sleep. None of it their fault but guilt shifted to them nonetheless in their own restless guilt and self-pity. Such a connection she had never known, and so she took an oath, not as knight but as sister. To be precisely what she had yearned for when she was once alone- a guardian, a caretaker who understood. For that Vessel at the very least, she ran until they came across a field of blooming greenery, new and unfamiliar to her.   
How long had they been together in that town? That someone had taken care of the once dull roads and spread greenery artificially to the formerly barren stone. Had the kingdom really developed that far since she had left?  
       Running down the path where flowers and grasses scattered, she chased after her sibling who she had given her only shred of tenderness. Shedding the armor that marked her as a knight and slinging it in her arms, leaves danced about in the trail of the two wakeful seekers. They were only dreamer that couldn’t rest, seeking someone from a dream that they had mistaken for truth. Ghost’s wish, to bring back that Knight’s memory, would it be a selfish act? She could only pray that the hopes of the two Vessels would somehow overlap. Could they bring their memory back? Should they?  
       She cast aside her needle and armor and tackled them into her embrace, they both fell into the grass, like it was some boyish game, the surprise of the impact causing them to accidentally fling their nail a distance away from them. The Knight looked at her in surprise, the spell that they had gone through broken by the reckless youthfulness of her clutches, they didn’t even want to look away from her to retrieve their nail.   
       And as impulsively as Hornet’s intercepting hug started, she felt quite foolish, getting up and brushing herself off with a flustered huff. The Knight still lay there in quiet shock, wide-eyed wonder at what she had done- they had no memory of being embraced so fully but they knew it was a familiar and pleasant warmth.  
       “Knight, get back up, it seems I-” Hornet stood over them, rubbing the back of her mask, “I accid-”  
       They pulled her back into them with their one arm and she fell onto their chest, their long arm awkwardly wrapped around her in a gentle cradle. They turned their body to the side and arched their long torso protectively around Hornet, like a mother would their child.   
       “Hornet, I am sorry for running away,” the Knight squeezed her closer, “but I need to find someone.”  
       “Do you even know who you seek?” Hornet asked cautiously, “Will they reciprocate your sentiment?”  
       “No...” the Knight held her closer, as close as they could without hurting her, “I want to tell them something. But I know that they will hate me.”  
       “Why would you hold such a suspicion?”  
       “I don’t know, but…” the Vessel looked desperately into her eyes, “Help me find them. Please.”  
       Hornet gently freed herself from their grip and stood up, offering her hand to them without a word. Pulling themself up, they stood to full height and took her hand in their clement grasp, wiping the tears that had formed at the very edges of their eyes. With resolve in their heart and a hand in their own, they felt ready to face the future that had again been clouded.  
       Weaving their way around seemingly endless caverns and twisting roads, they found their way to the lift that descended into the city, the new sights and sounds drove the knight’s lost heart mad with wonder and a strange familiarity. As if this path was one they had walked once before but only once before. And then never did they return upon it to go home to where they belonged- to their family and loved ones. Great nostalgia that was tinted by a thin veil of melancholy pervaded their journey. As if the walk home was like a sacred pilgrimage.  
       Hornet stopped before a large glass window in the city and looked out upon the mourning expanse of the blue, lights shined in the distance- the city was alive again, although not even a fraction of what it once was. Little flickers of life gave her hope, however faded. But as the Knight looked out, they stood transfixed, memory flooding in and washing them away, losing themself in endless rain and broken memory. Their heart that had been helplessly cleaved in two halves could not possess the capacity to take in the memories that were trying to arise.  
       Hornet turned to where they stood, ready to resume their journey to meet with Ghost but when she looked for them, they were nowhere the be seen.


	9. Chapter 9

       Ghost stumbled into the covered plaza beneath the Watcher’s Spire, barely able to move faster than a saunter, the sleep had done nothing to ease the nausea brought on from the sudden outburst of dark. They wanted to leave, to go anywhere, they had to leave, the walls felt like a looming, crushing presence. Stumbling to the closest door in a directionless meander, they found themself in the one environment they hoped they wouldn’t pass- the Memorial to the Hollow Knight. Looking up from where they were hunched, supported by the frame of the door, they saw that shape in the endless downpour. The abyss that was held was now again threatening to reach out desperately.  
       There was an apparent profundity in the way it stood at the heart of the kingdom, letting itself get drenched in the city’s tears with the suicidal complacency of a saint. Dark yet full of compassion, the perfect image of something so lost it could never return, a peacefully doleful countenance of an ancient being. It was enclosed completely- trapped inescapably- by the symbol of a monarch. It was the perfect figure of something Ghost wanted desperately, but just in likeness, not in reality. Simply a representation, that Vessel, and they stood looking up at the memorial. Like a ghost distorted by the ceaseless, lacrimal downpour.  
       Ghost stood frozen, breath caught in their throat, their disillusioned naivety made Ghost wonder how they could even bid them return. To crumble the peaceful shell that was built around them in their denial. The monarch that cloaked themself in shade stepped out into the soft blue light. Ghost wondered if that Knight would remember anything as they longed for a hopeless reunion.  
       The Knight looked towards them silently and simply stared at them with an unreadable gaze for what felt like an eternity. Then with a blank look yet tense physical expression, they shifted the nail from the crook of their arm into their hand and dropped fluidly into a nearly perfect fighting stance. The rain from the closed off heavens fell unrelentingly on the pair- a monarch and a knight together in the world’s heart.  
       “You,” their voice was clear as they had ever heard it, “I will never forgive you!”  
       Ghost’s fiercely horned crown that flowed upward from a double-ridged base, their dark and knowing eyes that were full of unspoken wisdom, and the aura of a king. That Vessel saw it all with analytic caution. Ghost brought their hand up to their face, gracing over the features that were a potent reminder of what they were. Their other hand clutched their chest at the brand that to them seemed like a scar.  
       Their sibling dashed towards them, and reached out with blinding speed- their phantom limb failed to grab anything but empty space, sending them forward clumsily. They swung their lance to recover from it and use the force to pull themself to face Ghost, throwing out three slashes, Ghost avoiding their weak swings. The heavy weight of Ghost’s own nail on their back felt crushing. They didn’t even think to draw it- they drew their nail upon their sibling once and they refused to do it again. Dropping to their knee, the Knight launched themself forward, missing Ghost considerably and spinning on their thin leg to quickly face them again. Like a dance in the mournful shower, two dancers that flitted about fleetingly.  
       They used their long nail like a rapier, thrusting it forward with great force, pulling with it their whole body. Ghost could sense their growing weariness, avoiding all of their thrusts with ease. Coming at them directly, the Knight slashed at Ghost who grabbed their lance, the nail so blunted it couldn’t cut through the shell, and pulled their hand forward. Ghost tackled the larger Vessel to the ground, using their weight to hold their sibling down.  
        _No cost was too great._  
       The struggler beneath them writhed desperately in overwhelming fright. Gasping and desperately trying to free themself from their opponent.  
        _They have a mind, this brokenness is proof enough for anyone._  
       Gripping their sword, the Knight tried to swing it, their hand still grasped tightly in Ghost’s own.  
        _They had a will and they used it to protect him, to protect me._  
       A pained cry escaped them as Ghost’s grip around their arm tightened, forcing them to drop their nail, shallow breath panting. Another bursting yell cried out as their nail hit the ground with a ring.  
        _Their voice now cries suffering._  
       They looked into Ghost’s eyes, the intensity of their stare burned into Ghost’s shell, the terror in every movement. Tears began to well in the Knight’s eyes as they looked at the gravely familiar king who again had them stuck against their will.  
       “Father?!”  
        _They are god and void, can’t they remember more- can’t they remember us?_  
       The Knight untensed their hand and Ghost thought that they had finally given up their struggle, but they brought it forward again and punched their sibling with staggering force, causing Ghost’s vision to spin and blur. They dropped their head onto their sibling’s chest, the blow still resonating sharply.  
        _They sealed the blinding light that plagued this world._  
       Freeing their other arm from around the Knight’s waist, they brought it up and gripped their sibling’s robes, balling up their fist. They buried their head against their sibling’s chest for any measure of comfort they could get. Their tears staining the white of the robes the larger Knight wore, their body shook with silent weeping, the Knight looked down at them and went still.  
        _They were the Vessel!_  
       Hand falling limply in Ghost’s grip, the other Vessel was looking at the monarch with intensity that was soon fading into fatigue- exhausted silence was accompanied by the rain. Ghost could feel the abyssal darkness in them churning again, threatening to burst out in another fit. For the sake of their sibling who was now so close, they controlled the churling Void that threatened to consume.  
        _They are the Hollow Knight. And I won’t let those Lights touch them ever again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow isn't this fuckin dramatic lmao


	10. Chapter 10

       They awoke with a start, the white light of the palace almost blinding as their eyes adjusted to the brightness. They were leaning against something, soft robes, another bug. They looked up at the brilliant form of their father, lost in thought at his desk, finely crafted pieces of dark grey armor laid out neatly. The bench they both sat on had just enough room for the both of them, two small forms bathed in surreal light.  
        _Is this really what I wished for? To be with you? You have taken everything. But despite it all- I love you!_  
       Burying their face into his pure white robes, they tried to go back to sleep, they slept so often, their body rapidly growing. His robes smelled of reagent and the soft fragrance of wisteria- reminding them of what they’d lost. They knew it was a dream, but regardless, they felt happy.  
        _In my mind I laugh, a king strong as such that anyone would fear him, you who own everything- will never reach your dream._  
       They felt a clawed hand on their back, the King’s sharp claws, cold and yet a comfort dearly yearned for. To their surprise, he grabbed them up, pulling them into his small lap and curling his thin body around them. He sighed as little tears fell onto their cloak, staining it. In his embrace they felt trapped, smothered, yet more content than they had ever been in their whole life.  
        _I know that this is a memory, and I know that what he said will hurt me, and I know that I never want to remember any of this, and I know that he hurt me more than anyone… But please, I don’t want to wake up._  
       “How pitiful of me,” he chuckled and wiped his eyes, “to find such comfort in a thing with nothing inside. You are not my child. But why?”  
       They looked up at the Pale King, his grip loosened and then tightened again around them when they started to slip further away. They wanted to reach up and dry his tears but they didn’t, they let him cry more. Somehow seeing him emotional made them feel safe.  
       “You look more like her everyday,” he sighed and then brought his hand up to his mask, “but she is not your mother?”  
       He put them on the ground and quickly resumed his work, as if to distract himself from what had happened- a creature of pure logic, emotions would only hold him back. As if showing any care had exhausted him. He looked over at them, not in disdain nor hate, nor any emotion they could comprehend.  
       “Please, leave me alone.”  
       And like that, they felt the light around them fading into blue, they reached out their hand to him but found that their dream was already slipping from them, even their memory of it. All to be forgotten upon waking. For the better, to be safe, so they wouldn’t have to hurt.

 

       They awoke to the waking world, the real world. The felt like they had a dream but they didn’t know of what. The Knight didn’t want to get up, the bed they were laying on was soft, so was the sheet wrapped around their shoulders. The felt empty, despondent. Looking around the room, they noticed their wet robes hung over a nightstand with care, they hadn’t even noticed at first that they no longer had them on. Forcing themself upright, they looked around the room and paused, the King from before was sitting behind a desk on the other side of the room. The monarch seemed familiar, and guilt overtook them for what they had done, they had made a grave mistake. The king, they knew him from the fading town- when he had found them in the gloom.  
       Looking down at their broken body, the felt disgusted as they alway had, bringing up their arm expecting there to be two but found only one. They ran their hand down the marks upon their chest, jagged and deeply ingrained, multiple scars that somehow had twisted into one ugly mark. Pulling the sheet closer to their body, they lay back down and turned over to their side- facing away from the King. They didn’t care what he was doing, but they knew though that he wouldn’t hurt them.  
       The heard the sound of fabric rustling, as if someone had balled up a large amount of cloth, then the king stood up and started walking over to them. They didn’t bother turning to him but they heard him set something down and then he gently pulled their shoulder to face him. Now crouched to face them as an equal, they felt at peace, like he was someone they had wanted to meet, someone they cared for. They felt a wave of blinding deja vu and great shame. The king clasped his hand on theirs and bowed slightly before meeting their gaze.  
       “I am so sorry,” the Knight could barely stomach it all, “I mistook you for another.”  
       He didn’t seem to care, or maybe he didn’t hear, as he gave them no response, only stared at them intensely and analytically. They both jumped as they heard a soft clang, a needle that was struck against the doorway to grab their attention. The king released their hand and stood to full height. It was Hornet, they felt happy again but she didn’t look very thrilled. She stood quite agitated and looked directly at the sovereign.  
       “Ghost of Hallownest,” she gazed at them angrily, “I would like to speak with you.”  
       The king looked puzzled and just stood there momentarily as Hornet walked out of the room and into the dark hallway beyond them. Looking back at them and then to Ghost she snapped, “now.”  
       As the king followed her into the corridor, they gave a parting glance to them and a small wave. Getting up, they inspected what Ghost had left behind when they had walked over. A white cloak, left next to their drenched attire, it had a familiar look to it but they knew that it was something completely new. Standing up tall with wobbly steps, they held the sheet around their shoulders and looked around some more.  
       They walked to the window, and traced their finger down the trail a droplet made, running down and losing itself among a flow of others that flowed into a puddle. So much blue, they had never imagined so much melancholy in a single place.  
       It felt like ages before Hornet and the king came back, they were arguing, at least to them it felt like they were- the air that surrounded them was heavy and tense, crackling with energy.  
       “Do you see them as a sore that was left behind by him?” she looked gripped her needle in her hand threateningly, “Just because they have no recollection, it is fine to think them emp-”  
       She was suddenly silent, not as one in shock but one who realized the profundity of a moment in the eyes of another. The king looked at them with their trailing cape, and tall stature and simply stood transfixed. They couldn’t understand what he was seeing, they had no recollection of why he would stand in awe of such a thing. Turning to him, he tensed up and looked about ready to run.  
       “They are not who you remember, Ghost.” Hornet tried to reason with them, “the warrior that was is now gone. Only a reflection, but one that holds worth.”  
       The king seemingly heard none of it, lost in his own thoughts. His fists tightened and his body shook. Running out of the room, Hornet made no attempt to follow, she didn’t even look startled at his sudden departure.  
       “Knight, if you still seek the one from your dream, from your memory- if it is your wish to find them-” Hornet looked out of the door then moved aside for them, “then don that cloak and go, they will not wait for it has been long enough.”  
       Grabbing the white cloak that he had left them, they dashed out of the room as Hornet followed behind closely, chasing after he who had sacrificed.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, this time I'll actually finish the work and not be a piece of shit


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